Taipei prosecutors yesterday continued their probe into an international escort ring allegedly headed by Tai Chun-yi (戴君儀) and Chung Yi-tzu (鍾宜姿) by summoning 22 alleged victims and witnesses, while criticizing media reports speculating on who might be involved.
Prosecutors armed with search warrants seized a notebook from Tai, which reportedly contains a list of alleged customers of the ring, along with contact numbers. Most of those allegedly named in the book are wealthy businessmen in Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.
The notebook also allegedly contains the names of Taiwanese models and starlets available for escort and sexual services and a price list.
Some of the information allegedly found during the investigation has been reported on by the local media.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office released an official statement saying its staff abide by the principle of confidentiality during an investigation and work to protect victims’ privacy.
“In the past few days, some media outlets have speculated on the names of female models and entertainers who could be linked to the case. However, there is no basis to these speculations and is not in keeping with factual information,” the office said.
However, the Chinese-language weekly Next Magazine yesterday published what it said was a partial list of the ring’s customers and escorts.
The magazine alleged that the list in Tai’s notebook contained names of 18 wealthy businessmen listed as regular customers, and a total of 38 female names, mostly women in the entertainment and modeling industry.
The magazine also alleged that in addition to human trafficking and sex-trade charges, Tai could also be accused of procuring under-aged girls for businessmen visiting Taiwan.
The magazine said the partial list allegedly includes a former government minister, an influential politician, the head of a Taiwanese financial conglomerate, owners of high-tech companies in Taiwan and China, a Taiwanese telecommunications tycoon, a Hong Kong film industry mogul, a top Hong Kong movie star and a Macau casino owner and entertainment industry investor.
Taiwanese and US law-enforcement agencies are working together to investigate telephone calls and messages from of Tai and Chung, which have allegedly included more customer names, including Americans and Chinese living in the US, along with other Taiwanese and Chinese businessmen not listed in the notebook.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry